Gregor and the Prophecy of Death continuing
by vastovastare
Summary: <html><head></head>This is the rest of a fiction I wrote a long time ago but never finished. It follows Gregor after the events of "The Code of Claw". Luxa and Ripred have arrived at Gregor's home to tell him that the cutters have a deadly ally who have sparked a new war.</html>
1. Chapter 14

**WARNING, THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF A STORY I STARTED LONG AGO. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ GREGOR AND THE PROPHECY OF DEATH, BY GODLYFAN227, PLEASE DO SO.**

**To my fans who have waited so long (hopefully they're still fans, if not I hope they'll reconsider) .**

**You probably know me by the pen name "GodlyFan227". This is a continuation of the fanfiction I started oh so long ago. Those of you who have not read the previous chapters, here's the link .net/s/4678759/1/ (Copy and Paste) . Those of you who read my story, I hope you can forgive me for the belated update. To tell the truth I haven't thought about this fan fiction or ANY fan fiction for a long time (I started this when i was 11/12 years old). So without further ado, let us begin.**

**-AeZmN**

**Chapter 14**

Gregor stared blankly into the glowing embers of the small fire. Around him his companions sat awkwardly, all of them uncomfortable. All of them grieving. Gregor started, then realized the image of Luxa in the flames was his imagination, desperately grasping at the few shreds of his heart that remained. He couldn't believe that she was gone. Luxa, who had been his enemy, his friend, and his lover. Everything in the small cave, from the dripping stalactites, to the smell of mildew on the pockmarked walls and the ash drifting from the noxious air outside the cave felt like a dream, a nightmare.

Lapblood padded over, her paws making soft scratches in the dusty ground. She rested a scared and calloused paw on Gregor's shoulder. He vaguely heard the others stirring out of the singular reverie that seemed to have taken hold of them all. He took comfort in the familiar feel of Lapblood's presence.

"I know what it's like, to lose one you love." She said softly.

"Get some rest, Lapblood", Gregor replied, his voice wearier than his age warranted.

"I'll take first watch."

The gnawer hesitated, her liquid black eyes looking to Ripred for guidance. He nodded back. The message was clear.

_"Let the boy be alone for a while."_

Lapblood helped the others set up their sleeping spots, taking any excuse to do some work. A swipe there to clear some pebbles. A kick there to get rid of a pile of accumulated ash. Then she returned to her resting place of choice in a small corner of the cramped cave, walking past Ripred as he set to work cleaning the ash and blood that matted his ragged fur. She walked in a circle, then flopped down with a sigh. She gave herself a quick grooming, then drifted off the sleep.

Boots had mercifully drifted off to sleep, sparing the small company of friends the burden of explaining where Luxa had gone. Temp had lain down beside her, his shell reflecting the light of the gloomily flickering fire, shielding her from any drafts. The fliers hung upside down with their wings folded in, clawed feet digging into the hard rock and brittle limestone. Aurora's normally gleaming coat of golden fur was now a dull yellow, and her eyes were glazed over in grief. Atlas attempted to comfort her, but soon realized that giving her some time alone was the best way he could help. Nike too realized this and soon they had both closed their eyes to the pain of reality and drifted off to sleep.

Gregor sat at the mouth of their small shelter, staring out into the Firelands with unfocused eyes.

_"It's my fault. If only i had realized..."_

His thoughts swirled in his head in a tumultuous cyclone of chaos. He should have been on his guard, he should have listened to the prophecy, he silently screamed. He should have been there to save her. He knew that he would never have gotten to her in time to save her. But that didn't matter. All that matters is that Luxa had fallen, and he could have been able to stop it, if only he'd been better.

A distant light glimmered suddenly, it's small light barely decipherable in the consuming darkness.

Gregor blinked, his eyes focusing, but there was nothing. Just his imagination again, trying to believe that Luxa had survived, was coming back at this moment. But the he he was met with impenetrable darkness and the hope that had kindled momentarily fluttered and died.

Hunched like an old man, not a youth of barely thirteen, he woke Ripred for next watch. The grizzled old warrior briefly rested a paw on Gregor's shoulder, dispersing the ash that had gathered there, then moved to the entrance of the cave and sat on his haunches. The gnawer knew the boy was in pain, and his mind wandered briefly back to that time, back before... - He yanked himself of the past, marveling at how painful memory can be after so many years. He gave a weathered sigh, letting down the image he had worked so hard to maintain. He relaxed and leaned his back against the cave wall.

Gregor lay thinking about Luxa, unable to escape the memories of her. Her mocking smile, the pale violet of her eyes, and the shining silver of her silk-like hair. His mind jump briefly to the light he'd seen, but then dismissed it. He knew that his mind was attempting to hold on to her, trying to pretend that Luxa had survived, and was coming back to him even at this moment. He knew it was hopeless. He felt hot tears scorching a path across his right cheek, traversing the bridge of his nose and dripping off his left cheek onto the ground. She was gone. He had lost her.

They woke at first light, or at least as close to first light as you can get in an underground world. The memory of the battle still haunted all of them.

Boots, however, was for the most part unaffected by the melancholy of the group, singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" at the top of her lungs. Her Tellytubby outfit was miraculously clean, with just a few smears of ash to show for the distance through burning smoggy air they had traveled and the horrific battle they had gone through.

"Gregor, where is Luxa?" inquired Boots curiously as she cast her big brown eyes around the group.

"Well Boots, Luxa's-" Gregor began wearily.

"_Pst, quiet!"_ hissed Ripred.

Everyone froze, looking fearfully at the mouth of the cave. A shape landed there, framed by the harsh red light of the Firelands. It appeared to be a flier-sized hawk? No, that was wrong. Although it looked liked a hawk it had several striking qualities that stood out. First was the color, an odd mix of fiery red mixed with dull grey, that blended almost perfectly with the walls of the large tunnel they were traveling through. And second, it had an odd horn-like protrusion at the peak of it's head that looked as if it was made of bone, and was probably hard as steel.

Something, no someone descended from it.

"So it is true." breathed the golden eyed man that had been riding the hawk.

"The war has begun."

**To anyone who has read this far**

**If you are one of those who read this fan fiction so long ago, I thank you for reading this. I do not expect anyone who had waited so long for an update to continue with my story, but if you do, you will not be disappointed.**

**-AeZmN**


	2. Chapter 15

**Hello, AeZmN here**

**I'd just like to say thank you to anyone who is still reading this. If you have any comments or criticism, feel free to review. After all, a good author's goal is to write a story his readers actually want to read.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Underland Chronicles, or the characters represented in them. I am merely a fan wanting to continue a good story. All rights belong to Suzanne Collins.**

**Chapter 15**

Everyone in the small cave immediately snapped into aggressive stances, as if the stranger's words had woken them up from a dream. Everyone but Ripred. He looked at the man's flexible leather clothes with a dumbstruck expression on his face. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

The man shifted awkwardly, aware that everyone was staring at him. Then he seemed to notice who Ripred was for the first time. His mouth dropped open.

"Ripred, is that you?" the man whispered into the stunned silence.

"It can't be." replied Ripred, his eyes blinking in disbelief.

Gregor and Lapblood, who had been sizing up the man, from his long, plain sword scabbard, to the scars that ran up and down his arms, started along with the rest of the group. They turned to Ripred in amazement. They couldn't remember the last time Ripred was speechless. The big rat had always seemed ready for everything.

"You know this man?" exclaimed Nike.

"Yes, and I know him," interrupted the man abruptly, "But right now we need to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you explain who you are." growled Lapblood menacingly.

The tension thickened, until it felt almost tangible, filling the small cave like the poisonous fog outside.

Suddenly, a strange expression came over Ripred's and the man's face. At first it was hardly noticeable to the rest of the companions. A small twitch, like an unconscious reaction to a fly buzzing at your face. Then it grew, spreading over their faces like melting butter. They burst out laughing, rushing at each other and shaking each other's hands eagerly.

"Haha, Rowan you old dog!" yelled Ripred.

Gregor, Lapblood and the fliers watched, bewildered while Boots suddenly laughed and began clapping. Even Longweb, who didn't normally show much emotion, much less surprise, was shaking his head in confusion. No one seemed to know what was going on, and simply watched stupidly while Ripred and Rowan rejoiced, as if they hadn't seen each other in decades. This from Ripred, who didn't get excited about anything that didn't have to do with killing or shrimp with cream sauce. No one except Temp.

He was gibbering in his native language, a series of clicks emitting rapidly from his mouth.

Gregor turned to him.

"Temp what are you saying?" he exclaimed, all traces of his grief disappearing as he struggled to understand what was going on.

"One of the Lost Scouts, he is, One of the Lost Scouts." replied Temp.

"Many of our tunnels and homes used to belong to them."

Nike inturrupted.

"The Lost Scouts are a myth, a fairy tale, stories to get children excited." she protested.

"WHO ARE THE LOST SCOUTS?" yelled Gregor.

Nike turned to him, a look of skepticism on her bat face.

"The Lost Scouts were reconnaissance soldiers who were lost during the second Human-Gnawer war, centuries ago." she explained.

"Actually it was the third war, barely more than a century ago." interjected Lapblood helpfully.

"Whichever war it was, everyone knows the Lost Scouts are fake, just a myth", Lapblood said, then continued explaining.

"They were supposedly sent out on a scouting mission on the Gnawers. Only one man returned. He said that the rest of his recon unit had disappeared over night, without a trace. He didn't have a clue what had happened to them, and said the last time he saw them was before he went to sleep."

"All of this apparently happened during on of the wars we had with the Gnawers." finished Nike, looking at Lapblood, who nodded in confirmation, for validation.

"Actually you're both wrong." said Ripred.

All eyes swiveled to him and Rowan, who had finished celebrating the fact that they were both still alive.

"The Lost Scouts were lost in the Digger War." Ripred ended with a flourish.

Silence took the damp cave once again.

"It can hardly be called a war." said Rowan, his voice tight with anger.

"The Diggers were slaughtered."

"And what would you know about it?" Atlas spoke for the first time.

"My ancestors were jailed for opposing Sandwich's idea to poison the Diggers. They were the best of the scouting units, and he wanted them to sneak to the Digger's water supply and poison it. They were thrown in jail for their outright refusal. When they learned that Sandwich would continue with the plan, they broke out, running away from the temporary Human city that had taken root while we fought for the right territory to build a proper city. They went to the Diggers under a flag of parlay. When the Digger's heard of Sandwich's plan, they dismissed it as a scare tactic, throwing the scouts right back into jail. But a few listened. They broke the unit out of their own jail and fled with them, only a few hundred of them taking shelter in the Firelands. But they soon found the the Firelands could hardly be considered "shelter". They survived, but the Diggers could not live in the Firelands. So the unlikely allies parted ways, promising to meet again. That promise was never kept. If it weren't for my ancestors, there would no longer be any Diggers alive in the Underland." concluded Rowan quietly.

"So how do you know Ripred?" inquired Atlas.

Rowan and Ripred grinned at each other.

"Ripred and I have survived through several battles, even a war." explained Rowan..

"Not for lack of effort on our enemies part." added Ripred dryly.

"What war have you been through?" asked Gregor curiously.

Ripred and Rowan looked at each other, as if contemplating how much to say. They seemed to come to an agreement.

"The same war you've been in, boy." said Ripred said carefully.

There was a shocked silence.

"But we never even heard of you before now!" exclaimed Nike.

"If it weren't for the Laurians - That's what they call themselves, in honor of their original captain, Reginald Laurian - There would have been many more enemies to deal with. They were careful about being quiet about it though, as they don't have the best experience with Regalians." Ripred told her significantly.

Nike opened her mouth to say something else but Rowan interrupted.

"We must go. You are in danger in this little hole, and we need to get you back to the city." he told the party of companions.

"We can't go back to Regalia without completing our mission!" protested Nike.

Ripred grinned, his sharpened dagger-like teeth bared ominously.

"Who said anything about Regalia?"

**Once again, I'd like to thank any readers. I will try to start updating with larger chapters soon. If you haven't read the first part of this fan fic, I suggest you do so here: .net/s/4678759/1/ (copy and paste) . Any comments or criticism will again, be appreciated.**

**-AeZmN**


	3. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the long wait**

**I've been a bit busy. But to all you who have been raging the loss of Luxa (mostly on me), have no fear. All will be revealed in time.**

**-AeZmN**

**Chapter 16**

Gregor looked skeptically at the small cave, taking in the soot-covered ground and walls, and the fact that it could barely house their small party. Rowan saw the the looks of consternation on everyone's face, besides Ripred of course, and thought it would be best to explain.

"This is one of the back entrances to Halla, our main city." he explained.

"The main gates face out towards the Uncharted Lands."

The companions walked warily into the gloom of the cave, the light of the torch leading them casting shadows on their weary faces. There were a set of steps leading down, surprisingly damp, seeing as they were in one of the driest regions of the Underland. They continued to walk down the steps for what seemed to be an eternity, but was most likely closer to thirty minutes. Gregor took the time to observe Rowan's mount. It had intelligent eyes, always shifting, and it's wickedly curved beak looked sharp enough to cut steel. The color of it's feathers had been uncertain before, in the wash of red that always seemed to be filling the Firelands, but now that Gregor looked closer, he realized that the hawk was indeed a burning red color, interspersed with a deep grey that matched the cave's walls, that was perfectly suited to the Firelands. They finally reached the bottom off the stairs, and walked through an arched door, carved in the stone of the huge cavern they had entered. The entire group of questers, except Ripred, gasped in amazement.

Before them lay a city as grand and magnificent as Regalia. It was similar, but had an entirely different style. While Regalia had many domes and spires capping it's palace, the main building in Halla was a castle. It was covered in turrets and towers, like something out of a medieval story book. The houses that radiated out from the castle had stone shingles, the type you expected to see in a chinatown, and the small bits of road they could see from their current position were smoothly paved, different from the cobblestones of Regalia.

Rowan walked to the main gate, where soldiers snapped to attention.

"State your purpose." called one of them, though it was obvious he was joking, and already knew who Rowan was.

"My purpose is to bring these travelers to the King." replied Rowan, an amused lilt in his voice.

The man laughed, and called something to a man behind the massive walls. Immediately, the huge iron gates began opening, giving them a view of the road that lead up to the castle.

"How did you get streets that are so smooth?" asked Nike, making the bat equivalent of a frown as she studied the ground.

"We use a different type of stone than they do in Regalia." explained Rowan.

"It is smoother, and only found in the Firelands. Our scientists believe it comes from the volcanoes."

This seemed to puzzle everyone besides Ripred and Gregor, who knew about how rocks could be formed in volcanoes. Atlas opened his mouth to say something when Boots suddenly inturrupted.

"Look, Birdy!" she shouted, clapping happily as everyone looked up at the sky to see another large hawk descending upon them.

"The king requests your presence at the hospital." he declared, directing his message at Rowan.

Rowan looked surprised.

"Awake already?" he muttered to himself.

"Does the king sleep a lot?" asked Gregor, trying to understand Rowan's surprise.

Rowan gave him a strange look.

"Follow me." he commanded.

They began moving towards a large building that branched off of the castle. Now that they were closer, Gregor realized that the castle wasn't nearly as imposing up close. In fact, it looked quite friendly, it's gates seeming to smile at them. But they changed direction and continued towards what Gregor could only assume was the hospital.

Now that Boots had broken her long stretch of silence, she was making it up by singing loudly, causing many pedestrians to look at them in surprise. Gregor could feel their stares on them as they noticed the large bats that flew above them. He forced himself to focus on Lapblood's soot covered fur in front of him. Now that things had calmed down, he found his thought returning to Luxa.

_"Stop it!"_ he yelled at himself in his head, as tears pricked his eyes again.

Abruptly, they arrived at the hospital. As he walked through the main doors, Gregor took in the soft yellow color of the walls and the friendly looking nurses that were bustling around, rushing through the hallways. There were several nurses at a large desk covered in ledgers and books, pens dangling over the edges of the counter. Two hallways branched off left and right, and there were people waiting in chairs that were placed around the entrance they had come through.

Rowan immediately took them into the right hallway, leading them up several flights of stairs. They stopped at the third floor, and Rowan lead them down a confusing series of corridors that were equally filled with staff and nurses. Boots pointed out little things they passed, and Temp tried to stop her from wandering off to grab them. The rest of the companions were still wondering why they were at the hospital, while Ripred already had a pretty good guess forming in his head. They finally stopped at a door marked 347.

"Is your king sick?" Asked Gregor.

Without answering, Rowan opened the door, while Longweb scuttled around trying to avoid blocking all of the nurses that were giving them strange looks.

The door swung open. The first thing Gregor saw was a man around fifty years old, turning to look at them. He had a handsome face, tanned from the exposure to the Fireland. A woman, who Gregor assumed was the queen as she was wearing a tiara, sat across the bed, talking to it's occupant.

Gregor's gaze moved to the person talking to the queen, and as he saw her face, stumbled against the doorway. He barely held himself up from falling on the ground as he took in what he was seeing. He could tell his companions were having similar reactions, though not as strong, from the startled gasps around him. Only one thing kept running through Gregor's head.

_"She's alive! SHE'S ALIVE!"_

**And by "in time" I mean "in this chapter"**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please give me any helpful criticism you can think of, as I am ever striving to improve my reader's experiance.**

**-AeZmN**


	4. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Gregor sat by the bed, still in shock after discovering that Luxa was alive. Aurora was perhaps the only one who was even happier at this unexpected discovery, her gleaming golden coat seeming to visibly brighten, becoming glossy and sleek again. The entire group of companions had rushed to Luxa moments after the shock wore off. Rowan and Ripred stayed at the door, and even the big surly rat could not resist smiling at the jubilation filling the room. Gregor noticed the king and the woman he believed to be the queen had moved to the door. Now that he looked at the queen properly, he saw that she was beautiful, with caramel eyes tinged with gold. Her age was hard to place, and Gregor decided she could be anywhere from thirty years old to her late forties. They looked like a picture perfect couple, nothing like Vikus and Solovet had been.

He looked back at Luxa. Took in her silver hair, framing her face perfectly, and those lively violet eyes he remembered so well. She was talking to Aurora, their faces close together, while the others gave them some space and spoke amongst themselves. She was in a stereotypical hospital bed, cloudy white and perfectly clean. She was wearing a blue, linen, hospital gown, not the most flattering of outfits, but she made it look like a ball gown. Her arm was in a large cast, along with her leg, and her midriff was wrapped in bandages. But Gregor noticed none of it. He only noticed how perfect her eyes were, the way she made laying in a hospital bed with a dozen broken bones seem graceful. He was musing over her various perfect features (ahem), when her voice broke his reverie.

"May I talk to Gregor alone please?" Her eyes were locked to his.

Everyone streamed out the door. Ripred nudged Rowan and whispered something. The both snickered.

Gregor thought about being embarrassed.

_"Screw it"_, he thought as the door clicked neatly shut.

He rushed to her bedside, sending his chair keeling sideways onto the freshly waxed floors.

His lips met hers. It was bliss, those few moments connected to Luxa, to his love, before they both came up gasping for air. Gregor was careful with her injuries, making sure not to jolt her arm.

"I'm so sorry I let you fall." whispered Gregor, tears coming to his eyes as it all caught up with him.

"It's not your fault." replied Luxa, wiping away his tears with her good arm.

"There was nothing you could do. I do not blame you."

And there was truth in her words. Gregor felt a wave of emotion cresting in his heart, like waves breaking against harbors of New York.

They embraced again, and Gregor vowed that nothing would ever happen to her again, not after he had gotten a second chance like this.

Their lips were about to touch again when a knock came on the light blue hospital door, causing it to shake slightly on it's hinges.

"If you two are done _screwing _around in there, we only have near certain destruction by two nearly unstoppable species that are currently outnumbering us two to one to deal with. Nothing urgent mind you." came a familiar sarcastic voice.

Luxa sighed and rolled her eyes at Gregor, and he found himself laughing, so glad to be seeing the familiar gesture again.

Ripred opened the door and padded in, and soon the room was once again filled with people. The king sat down as Gregor suddenly remembered something.

"Hang on a minute, the prophecy said that 'A friend would take a fatal fall'. Since Luxa didn't die, doesn't that mean one of use still will?" he asked tensely.

The queen laughed.

"The fall may not have been fatal for Luxa," she said, "but it certainly would have been if it hadn't been fatal for the climber she fell onto on the way down. The climbers had discovered some of our scouts, and if she hadn't come barreling into the unlucky thing, we would have lost them for sure."

Her voice was light and lilting, like she was singing everything she said. Gregor decided he liked her. She was nothing like Solovet, not warlike at all. She was the image of a proper queen, regal and graceful, a public image.

Her husband, the king, spoke.

"Welcome back into our walls, Ripred." he said gravely.

"I am glad I'm still welcomed, Stromn." replied the grizzled old gnawer.

King Stromn nodded, then turned to Gregor.

"So this is the warrior." he said, obviously surprised at how unimposing Gregor was.

"I'd heard he was young, but this is young even for Regalia." he commented lightly.

"And this is his bond. I'd heard you had died." He said inquisitively.

Gregor tensed.

"This is Atlas, son of Ares, who had been Gregor's previous bond." offered Ripred.

The king seemed satisfied by this answer, and became more serious.

"We must discuss the coming battle. Rowan, go retrieve you fellow Commanders, and meet in the Council Room."

Rowan nodded, then strode off quickly, disappearing around the corner.

The king turned to them.

"You must rest. I will have you shown to your rooms, and send for you when the Council begins."

He clapped his hands, and a servant scurried over, tucking in his wrinkled gold and brown tunic, those being the colors of the Lost Scouts' coat-of-arms.

"Show these guests to the reserved rooms." he said to the servant.

The nervous man nodded, and gestured them to follow him. He led them out of the hospital, and to the other side of the castle, where there appeared to be an entire guest house filled with rooms, almost like a mansion on it's own. The man led each of them to their rooms, leading Longweb and the bats to specially prepared spaces. Ripred and Lapblood were sharing a suite. That left Gregor, who was quickly shown to his room overlooking the city. The man bowed an backed out the door, closing it behind him.

Gregor took a quick bath, then immediately dropped into his bed and fell asleep almost instantly. His dreams were filled with Luxa.

A hand was shaking Gregor awake. He blinked the stubborn sleep out of his eyes, though it persistently hung on to him, and managed to swing himself out of his bed. Now that he was rested enough to be fully awake, he examined his room. He was in a four-poster bed, with an ornate, claw-footed dresser sitting next to it. Directly across the room was the bathroom. there was a plush, brown colored sofa with it's back to a set of windows looking outside, right at the foot of the bed. There were doors leading out onto a balcony.

Gregor noticed a servant hovering next to his bed, holding a change of clothes. He gratefully took them, and began to change after the servant left the room.

A few minutes later he was following the man down a long corridor, which led to a large circular room that was already filled with his companions. He took a seat with Atlas, and noticed that Luxa was sitting with Aurora, casts, bandages, and all. She grinned at him and waved, just as the king noticed him and declared the Council ready to begin.

"I will make this short and simple. Our enemies are moving in on Regalia as we speak. They number a hundred thousand strong, more than Regalia can muster, even with the other species helping. They will need us with them." the king said wearily.

"But we have worked in secrecy for centuries!" argued a muscular man with closely cropped hair.

"Why should we stop now?"

"If we don't do something, all our secrecy will have been for nothing. All men in the Underland will fall. Regalia cannot face this threat alone." replied another man in a calm, quite voice.

"Jak is right, Roack. If Regalia falls, it will not be long before we are discovered and destroyed." said Rowan.

There was a murmur of assent. Most everyone agreed, even the man Roack, who had seemed quite ready to fight back just seconds before.

"But how can we help? We can't just send all of our soldiers to Regalia. We need to defend our own city too." argued another man, who, like Roack, lacked any real conviction.

They all saw the need to step up and help. But no one wanted to. If the Commanders didn't all agree to this course of action, it would be revoked.

Gregor looked around in disbelief. He stood up.

"Are you serious?" he exclaimed incredulously, glaring around the room.

"Are you all too afraid to help Regalia when it's in need? If you just sit here and wait for the city to fall, then you don't even count as humans.

He could see they were still reluctant to march into war.

Luxa stood up too, leaning heavily against Aurora.

"Your ancestors were brave enough to take action. Are you?" she challenged.

Gregor sensed a change in the room.

"All in favor of standing by Regalia against the enemy, say aye!" called the king.

The room was filled with cries of "AYE!"

The king smiled grimly.

"Commanders, muster your troops."

"In two days...we go to war."


	5. Chapter 18

**I apologise for the long delay  
><strong>**  
>I've been a bit busy with my grandpa and brother visiting. He has been using the computer quite often, and I had to type this between uses.<strong>

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, all characters belong to Susan Collins and her publishers.  
><strong>**  
><strong>

**-AeZmN **

**Chapter 18**

They were walking back towards the hospital to check Luxa's wounds and make sure she could travel. Gregor was curious about the Lost Scouts, and had decided to ask Rowan about them.

"The Lost Scouts have only been living in this particular cave for a century. The first cave they chose fell apart when a particularly violent eruption happened." Rowan told him.

"Didn't Sandwich ever look for you?" Gregor asked.

Rowan laughed.

"Of course he did! And he came close to catching us too. But he never caught us. Except for once." he said, his face darkening.

"What happened?"

"He caught our main settlement, the only one we had at the time. We had just sent out two hundred or so settlers to start anew when he found us. Everyone was slaughtered. If we had not sent out the others, we would never have survived. If only he knew how important we'd be!" Rowan said with a bitter laugh.

"How do you know all this?" Gregor wondered aloud.

"We have always kept tight records, a habit of being scouts, who's job was to find data on the enemy and record it. We are lucky that he did not know of our settlers. He believed us dead, and so did not pursue us further." smiled Rowan, his dark mood passing.

They arrived at the hospital, and got Luxa to her room where she lied down with a sigh.

"We have arranged for you to be transported in a separate contingent, with private guards." the king told her.

"I will not be needing that. I can travel with the soldiers." she answered, deathly calm.

"I'm afraid that's too risky in your condition." the king replied back with a sigh.

"I refuse to simply hide while others have to protect me! I insist on travelling with the soldiers!" she yelled stubbornly.

King Stromn sighed. Again.

"You can't travel with the bulk of the army in your injured state." he said for the once more.

"_I'm perfectly fine!" _seethed Luxa through gritted teeth.

She attempted to raise herself before collapsing back on her injured arm, teeth clenched in pain.

"I won't let myself be pampered and coddled while my nation needs me. I am their queen, I can't just do nothing." she implored softly.

Longweb twitched nervously, obviously not used to the tension that Luxa was so apt at creating whenever she disagreed with someone. Sitting on the ground with small plastic animals scattered about her, Boots began to fidget as she realized something wasn't right, and Gregor knew she mights start absorbing the mood, as young children tend to do, if things didn't cheer up soon. He and Ripred looked at each other as silence crept into the room. They both had experience with Luxa's stubbornness. And they both knew that she wouldn't give up unless they could appeal to her in a way she would understand.

"You won't be doing nothing, Your Highness." said Ripred, the wash of silence breaking against his voice.

"The people need their queen. _Alive_. And they won't be getting her if she goes blundering into a war with broken bones and a concussion." he stated bluntly.

"What you can do is return to Regalia quickly as you can while maintaining your health." consoled Rowan. "It's the thing that Regalia needs most."

Gregor watched in admiration as Luxa's resistance crumbled. It was obvious that this wasn't the first time Ripred and Rowan had worked together. The way they cooperated showed, even though they had both uttered but a couple sentences. He began to wonder just how long they had known each other, and why Ripred had never mentioned him. Scratch that. Gregor didn't need a reason why Ripred wouldn't tell people about a man who technically shouldn't exist. That and Ripred wasn't exactly the type of person to just spew out his history. But from the way they had greeted each other, it seemed they hadn't been in contact for a long time.

King Stromn was sitting back in his chair, obviously glad Ripred and Rowan had intervened. From what Gregor had observed, Rowan was sort of an unofficial advisor to the king. Longweb had relaxed and settled back in the corner he was occupying with his legs rising about him like the turrets of a castle. Albeit a circular castle with exactly eight turrets. Now that the atmosphere had settled, Boots quickly lost interest and went back to marrying a yellow Lion to a green T-Rex.

Everyone jumped as a heavy knock sounded from the door. A man stood panting outside the doorway, a sheen of sweat shining in the light of the hospital. Gregor noticed that as well as the coat of arms, a brown bow held by a similarly colored falcon upon a background of a yellow sphere, He had an image of winged boots embroidered near the left side of his chest.

"Our scouts have reported a large mass of climbers marching towards Regalia. We predict they will be passing by in about a day, and be at Regalia in another day." he reported in a clear and concise voice that belied his exhausted state.

King Stromn frowned, his face just barely changing. Despite that, he was clearly troubled by the news.

"This leaves us little time to mobilise. I am sorry to force more work upon you, but you must go the Commanders and tell them that we will need our army as ready as possibly by the end of this day." He said apologetically to the messenger.

The man nodded, seeming as if he had already fully recovered, and began walking briskly down the hall.

King Stromn began to turn towards Rowan, but the Commander was already rising and moving towards the door.

"I shall go to ready my men." He said quickly before he too disappeared down the hallway.

"The rest of you should get some rest. We will be leaving early in the morning, before the enemy reaches our city. We will get ready to move Luxa safely." The king

"Are you sure your troops can mobilise in just a few hours?" Nike asked skeptically.

For one of the first time since his arrival, Gregor saw the king smiling

"Don't worry, a nation doesn't spent centuries hiding without learning a few things about mobilising quickly." he assured her.

A thought suddenly niggled at the back of Gregor's head, as if he'd forgotten something.

_"It's probably just my imagination. I _am _pretty tired." _he thought.

Suddenly, Boots gave a huge yawn, surprising everyone.

"You should all get some rest." said the king as he ushered them out the room.

"I will have you woken and brought to the dining hall for breakfast before we leave for Regalia." he told them while he followed them out of the room.

Gregor looked back at Luxa as he left.

"You will be travelling as part of Luxa's guard." he assured Gregor, seeing the look that had passed between them.

Gregor colored slightly as he fell into step next to Longweb.

As they left the hospital and began heading to the nursery, which like Regalia's, was in the main castle, to drop off Boots, Gregor realised he had barely even heard the spinner say a word.

"So why are you on the quest?" he inquired of Longweb.

"I have always wanted to experience one of the fabled prophecies, and after proving to be a proficient ambassador to other spinner factions, it was decided that I should go on the quest." the spinner explained.

"Wow, I didn't know spinners had factions. Are they lik-" Gregor began, before he was interrupted by Boots wailing loudly.

He dashed over to her quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was just cranky from being woken up by whatever noise had interrupted her slumber. As he tried to calm her down, the thought began to nag at him again. He ignored it and they dropped a sniffling Boots off at the nursery, then bid each other farewell as they entered the guest house and headed to their respective rooms. Gregor entered his room and undressed quickly, before dropping heavily onto his bed.

Again, the nagging sensation that he was missing something began again. He thought about Larry and Angelina, and how they were doing, along with everyone in Regalia. Vikus, Howard, Narissa... Narissa! He had asked her something before they left, spurred by mere curiosity. What was it? He slowly drifted to sleep.

_Gregor sat in the arena, watching Mareth teach children how to ride bats. Beside him sat Narissa, her face slightly less pale than it had been during her brief stint as Queen. Suddenly curious, he turned to her.  
><em>

_"Hey Narissa, when you have visions, or premonitions, do you ever know _exactly _ what they're about, or is it always like it was with Hamnet?" he inquired of her.  
><em>

_She looked at him in surprise, as if she'd forgotten he was there._

_"It is usually as it was with Hamnet, just a hint of an idea, rather than a full understanding of what is to come." she told him.  
><em>

_"We have proof however, that other seers, though Sandwich is the only real known other one, may have had stronger gifts." she continued.  
><em>

_"There are records where his talents told him _exact_ data about the future, even going so far as to show him names and faces. In fact, it has been thought that he knew exactly what his prophecies and riddles were about. We believe he may have encoded them so that only those who they were meant for would fully understand them, in case enemies were to ever find them._

_"But why didn't he stop the prophecies from happening then?" asked Gregor.  
><em>

_"Well, in most cases, the prophecies were too far in the future for him to stop them. But there was a case where a prophecy occurred in his lifetime. He apparently took a small group of questers, much like we do now, and instead of trying to figure out what the prophecy meant, he went straight to their destination, managing to lead them past all the dangers that stood in the way. He fulfilled the prophecy in less than a day, and came back with no casualties. This is why we believe he was well-informed by his visions, unlike me." she explained._

_"Unfortunately, like me, he could not control what he saw, and there were many major events that he never foresaw. The Prophecy of Death was one of the first prophecies he created, thought to have been carved in a tablet, which was how he recorded prophecies before humans even created Regalia. We know this because we found one of them, the only remaining one. We do not know what happened to the rest. The prophecies in the prophecy room are estimated to be about half of what Sandwich saw, the rest being lost when the tablets disappeared." she finished off, looking breathless after speaking so much._

_Gregor nodded, then jumped up in alarm as one of the children slipped off her flyer. Luckily she was close to the ground. Nevertheless, he rushed down to see what he could do, and ended up helping her to the hospital with a sprained ankle. His and Narissa's conversation was forgotten.  
><em>

Gregor's eyes flew open. His heart was pounding from what he'd just dreamed. He remembered exactly what they'd spoken about, and now, knowing what he did about the Lost Scouts and Sandwich's prophecies, he realized something. If Narissa was right, Sandwich had known exactly how important the Lost Scouts would be, and he nearly drove them to extinction.


End file.
